Upper buffing device for vestibule face-plates.



I. IVI ROHLFING.

UPPER BUFFING DEVICE FOR VESTIBULE FACE PLATES'.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I6, 1915.

Patented Feb. 8, 1916.

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co., WASHINGTON. D. C.

entre srairns riarrnnr ernten JOHN M. ROHLFING, OF ST. LOUIS. MSSOUR-I, ASSIGNOB, TO AMERCAN CAR AND FOUNDRY COMPANY, OE ST. LOUS, MISSOUR, A COR-.JOBATON 0F NEW JERSEY.

Application filed March 16, 1915.

To all 'LU/0m it may concern:

Be it known that l, JOHN M. lloHLrrNG, a citizen ot the United States, residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Upper Butting Devices for vestibule Face-Plates, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such asjwill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

ll/ly invention relates generally to railway car vestibules, and more particularly to the means employed for maintaining the upper portions ot' the diaphragm face plates of vestibules in proper position or in restoring them to such position when they have been displaced or shifted as a result of relative movement between the cars to which the diaphragms are applied as said cars pass over curves, crossings and irregularities in the track.

Devices oit the character to which my invention relates are usually known as upper butling devices for vestibule tace plates, and generally include a spring, preferably of the semi-elliptic type, and composed ot one or more leaves, which spring is interposed between the tace plate olf the diaphragm and the end of the car, and which, in service, is compressed and expands with the corresponding movements oit the diaphragm, thus at all times, maintaining the tace plates of an adjacent pair of diaphragms in close yielding contact with each other.

The principal object ot my invention is to provide comparatively simple and ineX- pensive connecting means between the semielliptic spring which is carried by the diaphragm tace plate and the vestibule structure, which means is particularly effective in resisting the outward swinging movement of the upper portion of said diaphragm tace plate.

yl`he connecting means `contemplated by my invention is ireferably in the form of brackets or bearings which are applied to the end portion of the car body or vestibule and receive the end portions ot the semielliptic spring and which brackets or bearings, in addition to holding the spring securely and positively in properl position Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented lFeb. 8, lgl.

Serial No. 14,783.

during service, permit the ready removal or insertion of said spring in the event of repairs or renewal of parts.

A further object of my invention is to provide simple and efficient means for securing the central portion of the semi-elliptic spring to the diaphragm Jface plate without the use ot rivets, bolts or like Ytastening devices and vwhich central connection can be readily detached so as to permit the rey moval of the face plate in the event of repairs to the same or to the diaphragm.

rllhe brackets or bearings of my improved construction areadapted to be rigidly lixed to a car body while the same is under construction, and said bearings or brackets are designed to retain the springs without the use oit bolts, rivets or the like.

1With the foregoing and other objects in view, my inventionconsists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more ullydescribed, claimed and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a portion of a diaphragm face plate and showing the upper buiiing spring which serves as a resilient connection between said tace plate and the vestibule. llig. 2 is a top plan view of the parts seen in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section taken approximately on the line 33 oi' lfig. l. 4 is an enlarged vertical section taken approximately on the line 4-4 of F ig. l. Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross section taken approximately on the line 5-5 of Fig. l. Fig. 6 is a detail section illustrating a modified form of the connection between the central portion of the upper butling spring and the diaphragm i'ace plate.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings, l0 designates the end portion ot a car vestibule, 1l the usual bellows diaphragm and l2 the usual :tace plate ot said diaphragm. Formed through the central portion of the rear upper cross piece of the tace plate l2 is an aperture 13, one edge of which, preferably the lower, inclines downwardly and outwardly, and this aperture is occupied by the end portions ot a strap la which encircles the central portion of an ordinary semi-elliptic spring l5, the same having one or more leaves. `When this 'spring is applied to the face plate, the end portions of the strap 14 occupying parallel positions are positioned in the opening .13 after which the lower one of said straps is engaged with a suitable tool and bent downwardly so that it lies directly upon the downwardly and outwardly inclined edge below said opening, and thus the central portion of the spring is attached to the facel elliptic spring and the vestibule is in the form of a box-like keeper or bracket, the same comprising a rear plate 16 which is rigidly fixed to the diaphragm structure and in any suitable manner, preferably by means of rivets, and formed integral with the upper and lower edges of said plate are outwardly projecting plates 17, the forward edges of which are provided with flanges 18. Formed integral with the inner ends of the plates 1,7 are retaining lips or iianges 19. Each end of the spring 15 is bent so asto encircle the central body portion 20 of a spool, the same occupying a vertical position between the corresponding pair of plates 17 and the flanges 21 on the ends of said spool bear against the inner faces of the retaining lips or flanges 18. v

In service, the spring 15 yieldingly resists the inward movement of the face plate to jwhich it is attached, and during such action, the ends of the spring move freely through the boxes or keepers, and during such movement, the spools act as anti-friction elements inasmuch as the flanges of said spools bear with rolling movement against the retaining flanges 18 or against the back plates 16 of the keepers. The flanges 19 on the inner ends ofthe keeper act as stops to limit `the inward movement of the spools, and thus the outward movement of the central portion of the spring 15 and the upper end of the face plate 12 which is attached to said spring is restricted.

In the event that it becomes necessar f to detach the face plate, the downwardly bent end of the loop 14 is bent upward until it is parallel with the other end, and this permits of the withdrawal of the face plate from the spring. v

While I have shown and described the upper bufling spring as beingconnected to the diaphragm face plate and the spring retaining brackets or keepers on the vestibule structure, it will be understood that the positions of these parts may be reversed, that is, with the spring secu-red to the vestibule structure and the brackets or keepers secured to the diaphragm face plate. v

An upper bufling device of my improved construction is comparatively simple, can be cheaply manufactured and installed. is readily assembled or taken part, limits the outward swinging movement of the upper por tion of the diaphragm face plate, and proi vides a substantially and effective slid" connection between the ends of the fach plate, .spring `and the vestibule structure.

It will be readily understood that minor cliai'iges in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved device can be made `and substituted for those herein shown Hand described, without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is .set forth in the appended claims.V

I claim: y f y 1. The combination with 'a railway 'cai' vestibule and vestibule diaphragm face plate, of a semi-elliptic spring secured at the middle to one of said elements, :keepers xed to the otherl element, and bearing members loosely mounted in said keepers to which bearing members the ends of the spring are connected.

2. The combination with a railway car vestibule and vestibule diaphragm face plate, of a semi-elliptic spring secured at the middle to one of'said elements, keepers iixed to the other element, and `spools carried by the ends of said spring, which spools are 'loosely mounted in the keepers.

3. The combination -with a railway car vestibule and vestibule diaphragm face plate, of a semi-elliptic spring secured te one of said elements, spools carried by the endsof said spring, and keepers applied to the other element in which keepers the spools are loosely mounted.

4. The combination with a railway car vestibule and vestibule diaphragm face plate, of a semi-elliptic springsecured to one 1" ends of said spring, and keepers fined .to the other element, whichA keepers receive the spools and the ends of the spring and are provided with retaining flanges against which the ends of the'spoolsengage. i

6. The combination with a railway 'car vestibule and vestibule 'di-apliragm` face plate, of a semi-elliptic spring secured to one of saidI elements, spools carried by the ends of saidspring, keepers fixed to the other element, which `keepers. receive the Awhich the ends of the spool engage, and

stops on said keepers for limiting the inward movement of the spools and the ends of the springs.

'7. The combination with a railway car vestibule and vestibule diaphragm face plate, of a semi-elliptic spring secured to one of said elements, bearing members iiXed to the other element Jfor the end portions of the spring, `which bearing members are provided with retaining flanges, and rolling members loosely mounted in the bearings behind'the flanges thereof, said rolling members being connected to the ends of the springs.

8. The combination with a diaphragm 'ace plate spring, of spools applied to the ends of said spring, and rigidly fixed keepers in which said spools are loosely mounted.

9. rIhe combination with a diaphragm tace plate spring, of spools applied to the ends of said spring, rigidly fixed keepers in which said spools are loosely mounted, and stops on said keepers for limiting the inward movement of the spools.

10. The combination with a vestibule diaphragm face plate provided in its upper portion with an aperture, of a semi-elliptic spring, and a member` encircling the central portion of said spring, a portion of which member is removably positioned in the aperture in the face plate.

11. The combination with a vestibule diaphragm face plate provided in its upper portion with an aperture, of a semi-elliptic spring, and -a loop encircling the central portion of said spring, the ends of which loop occupy the aperture in the faceplates.

12. The combination with a vestibule diaphragm face plate provided in its upper Copies of this patent may be obtained for portion with an aperture, of a semi-elliptic spring, and a loop encircling the central portion of said spring, the ends of which loop are removably positioned in the aperture in the face plate.

13. In a device of the class described, a

semi-elliptic spring adapted to be arranged between a railway car vestibule and the vestibule diaphragm face plate, which spring is supported by said elements, and anti-friction rollers carried by the end portions of said spring and adapted to engage one of said elements.4

14. The combination with a diaphragm faceplate provided in its upper portion with an aperture which is wider' on one side than the other, of a face plate spring, and a loop encircling the central portion thereof, the ends of which loop are positioned in the aperture in the face plate and spread apart so as to att-ach the spring to said face plate.

15. The combination with a diaphragm face plate spring, of anti-friction members loosely arranged on'the end portions of said spring, and fixed keepers in which said antifriction members are loosely mounted.

16. The combination with a diaphragm face plate spring adapted to be arranged between a railway car vestibule and the vestibule diaphragm face plate, of keepers iiXed to the car vestibule for the ends of the spring, and anti-friction members mounted in the ends of the spring and arranged for rotary and reciprocating movement within said keepers.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses, this 2nd day of March, 1915.

JOHN M. ROIILFING.

Witnesses: p

J Aims J. COOPER, PAUL M. BEARD.

ve cents each, by addressing` the Commissioner of latents, Washington, D. C. 

